The Moon Rises
by A.R.Lockhart
Summary: After the defeat of Discord, the two royal sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, are tasked with restoring Equestria. The land is weakened and the ponies' spirits broken from Discord's reign. As time goes on, their subjects relish the sun's light and ignore the night's beauty. Luna, resentful with a desire for revenge, breaks the harmony they've worked so hard for.


Chapter 1

_Discord falls; harmony reigns._

_The two sisters stand on a hill overlooking a herd of ponies, a statue of a draconequus behind them. The sky is a deep bloodred; colors such as yellows and greys swirl across it like some great canvas. Neither the sun or moon can be seen; the only light that pierces the world comes in sharp from every angle of the sky, a strange, distorted light that is both too bright and too dim at the same time. _

_The land itself is ravished too, trees uprooted and dirt upturned, grass blackened and inedible. There is not one thing green or blue or beautiful; there is only black, red, yellow and brown. _

_The ponies before the sisters bear the marks of imprisonment and pain. Sad, downcast faces darken the earth ponies' faces; a dull gleam comes from the unicorn's coat, covered in dirt and dust; Pegasus wings feathers are ruffled and uncared for._

_The two sisters glance at one another. The eldest, the color of the beautiful pale sky right before dawn, gives her sister a reassuring smile. They've done it; they've saved this land from its unrest and unhappiness. The younger sister shifts her weight on her hooves, unsure; the villain might have been defeated, but there's still work to do; the land has to be rebuilt, food regrown and order reestablished. _

_The elder bows her head, her horn glowing with a yellow light; she suddenly lifts her head, her eyes glowing white, her wings unfurling. She rises into the air, a great ball of light following behind her. She reaches her peak and the sun bathes the land, its rays chasing away the clouds and redness. A great cheer rises from the ponies, along with the sound of pounding hooves as the first signs of Discord vanish._

_Celestia lands and smiles once more at her sister. An image of a stylized sun now emblazons her flank, the center yellow before fading to orange and then red. Luna stares up at her sister, still unsure, still seeing the magnitude of all that needed to be done. _

_"How will we…" she asks, her eyes wide, her cobalt blue forelock falling into her eyes._

_Celestia wraps her wing around her sister and pulls her into a side hug, nuzzling Luna's mane. "Don't worry about that right now, little sister. The dark times are behind us now; together we will rebuild this land, and together we will rule."_

"It's alright, Luna. I know you can do it," Celestia said soothingly, watching her sister struggle. A faint glimmer of blue light teased on Luna's horn, before disappearing like a snuffled candle. Luna fell to her knees, covering her muzzle with her hooves. "N-no I c-can't. I j-just can't…."

"Luna, if we're going to do this, I need your help." Celestia laid beside her and tossed her head towards the heavens, her mane rippling in a breeze only felt by her. "I can't go on forever raising both the sun _and_ moon; I will need your help."

"Find somepony else then; find somepony better," Luna kept her head hidden. "I'm not strong enough; I can't pull it up all the way."

"There isn't anypony else," Celestia said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "There's no unicorn strong enough to raise the moon. Try again, now." She nuzzled Luna with her head, reaching under Luna's foreleg and touching her ticklish spot. Luna shied away, trying not to giggle.

"Try not to think about how big it is," Celestia suggested. "Think about how beautiful it will look along the night sky, how much the ponies will love to see it after a long day in the sun."

Luna sighed, reading herself. "One more time, then I'm done." She said sternly. She climbs to her feet and dips her head. Color waved on her horn, her eyes screwed up in concentration. The familiar feeling came back to her, that she was getting a migraine; the strain felt too much, the moon too heavy. Doubts seeped into her mind, that she was too weak for the crown and she would never be able to raise the moon and do her duty to Equestria.

"Don't listen to your fear," Celestia said quietly, as though she knew the mental struggle her sister was going through. "You can do it. I believe in you."

Luna moaned, her knees shaking from strain, sweat wetting her dark grey-purple coat. The aurora around her horn seemed to fade as she gave into doubts. She imagined ponies laughing at her; an alicorn who couldn't raise the moon! A Princess who couldn't fulfill her duties! That she stood by while her sister defeated Discord; well, she helped there, didn't she? That took strength, did it not? Blue energy surrounded her horn and she thrust her head upwards. Her eyes opened and glowed bright white, if only for a few seconds.

When she looked up, the moon hovered above the land, as wonderfully big and bright as when Celestia rose it. Maybe even more beautiful than when her sister did it.

Celestia smiled. "I knew you could do it." She rose a hoof and tilted her head. "We'll work on your precision later—it shouldn't rise that fast; day should turn to night slowly, and night to dawn even more so—but you did very well, my sister."

Luna didn't respond, looking at the moon with complete awe, the pale reflection of it in her eyes. On her hindquarters, a mark appears, of the night sky with a crescent moon.


End file.
